If a vehicle, such as a car, is involved in an accident, in which the front part of the vehicle hits a pedestrian or a cyclist, the pedestrian/cyclist may be thrown towards the windscreen and/or the A-pillars. In order to reduce the severity of these accidents, it is well-known to use an inflatable pedestrian protection airbag, which deploys and at least partly covers the windscreen and/or the A-pillars, so that the pedestrian/cyclist instead hits the softer airbag.
During normal conditions, the airbag is stored in a housing under the bonnet of the vehicle. However, when a sensor system in the vehicle detects a potential collision risk with for example a pedestrian or cyclist, the airbag is deployed, i.e., inflated, in order to at least partly cover the windscreen and/or the A-pillars.
Document US 2006/0151228 A1 discloses a pedestrian protection airbag system for protecting pedestrians and cyclists. The airbag is deployable to protect a pedestrian or a cyclist who impacts with the vehicle. To prevent the lateral displacement of the segments of the deployed airbag in front of the A-pillars of the vehicle, the airbag, which is deployed from a housing below the bonnet, includes a section or a chamber near the hinges of the bonnet. As a result, the airbag is deployable above the bonnet along the entire width of the vehicle in front of the lower area of the windscreen and the A-pillars. The lateral ends of the airbag extend over the A-pillars in such a way that they are upwardly oriented and are additionally fixed by a tethering member in the form of a strap after deployment. A number of embodiments disclose various arrangements of the tethering members, e.g., connecting an upper corner of the airbag to the bonnet or to the housing.
However, the suggested airbag of US 2006/0151228 A1 has a rather complex shape, in particular due to the section or chamber near the hinges of the bonnet. In addition, the illustrated tethering members risk getting tangled during deployment. There is also a risk that an impacting pedestrian/cyclist can get tangled in the tethering member and be injured by the tethering member.